International Business

Concepts
INTL 220 - 002
Summer 2015

Review
What is the purpose of institutions
What are three key pillars/institutions

What are the three primary types of

economic systems?
What does uncertainty avoidance
mean? Examples?
How does time orientation vary by
culture?

Review
What are two key elements of
culture?
What does it mean to be a high
context culture? Example?
How would you describe the cluster
approach for cultural classification?
What are the 5 dimensions identified
in Hofstedes dimensional approach?

Review
What are some strategic responses
to ethical challenges?
What is CSR?
What is meant by sustainability?
Who are stakeholders?

What are some options for managing

CSR?

Class Schedule
WEEK CLASS DATE
1

7-May

2
3

14-May
21-May

READINGS
Chapter 1, Course
Outline
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

28-May

Chapter 14

4-Jun

Chapter 4

11-Jun

Chapter 5

18-Jun

Chapter 8

25-Jun

Chapters 6 & 7

2-Jul

Reading Week

9-Jul

Chapter 10

10
11

16-Jul
23-Jul

Chapter 11
Chapter 9

12

30-Jul

Chapter 12

13
14

6-Aug
13-Aug

Chapter 13
Course Summary

EVALUATIONS

In-class Assignment #1 Quiz #1

In-class Assignment #2 Quiz #2
In-class Assignment #3 Group Discussion
#1 Quiz #3
In-class Assignment #4 Group Discussion
#2 Quiz #4
In-class Assignment #5 Group Discussion
#3 Quiz #5
Test #1
In-class Assignment #6 Group Discussion
#4 Quiz #6
In-class Assignment #7 Group Discussion
#5 Quiz #7
Group Presentations
In-class Assignment #8 Quiz #8
In-class Assignment #9 Quiz #9 GC&E
Assignment
In-class Assignment #10 Quiz #10
Test #2

Group Discussion #2 (2%)

Devise a plan between your group members
as to how you plan to approach your country
research; who is responsible for which
aspect i.e. culture, religion, business,
politics, trade, etc.
- Be specific! How much weight will your
presentation give to each section? How much depth
is expected from each individual?
- By the end of the week, each group should upload
a word document describing their division of labor.
- Discussion open June 1- June 7th

Group Discussion #3 (2%)

Share your initial research findings
with your group. Each group member
should create an annotated
bibliography with at least 5 sources
dealing with the part of the project
they are responsible for.
Members should comment on each
others research, make suggestions
as to other places to look etc.

Group Discussion #3 (2%)

Annotated Bibliography list of
citations. Each citation is followed by
a brief summary of the article (could
be an abstract). The purpose is to
inform the reader of the annotation
of the information provided from the
source. The annotation should
illustrate how the source is relevant
to the project and that it is credible.

Group Discussion #3 (2%)

Annotated Bibliography Example
Jimeno, M. (2015). Understanding Cultural
Context. Some Amazingly Reputable Journal.
V23. P 4-15.
The article seeks to define cultural context and
understand its utility in a business environment.
The author analyzes a variety of case studies and
illustrates that the lack of cultural awareness
resulted in a business failure.
*Research Question

Chapter 4
Explain how a firm can exploit its
resources/
capabilities to sustain a competitive
advantage
Relate a firms resources/capabilities
to the
concept of a value chain
Differentiate between in-house
activities and
outsourcing

Resources

(internal strengths &

weaknesses)

Tangible observable and

quantifiable
Financial resources
Physical resources
Technological resources

Intangible difficult to quantify

Human resources & capabilities
Innovation resources
Reputational resources

Value Chain
What is it?
Why is understanding a firms value
chain useful?

Value Chain
Set of activities performed in a
specific way in order to deliver a final
product to market. May help firm
identify where they add value.
R&D

Raw
Materials
(inputs)

Ex. Nike

Additional
Component
s

Final
Assembly

Marketing

Final
Product
(Output)

Outsourcing
What is outsourcing?
What are the pros and cons?

Outsourcing
Turning over an organizational
activity to an outside supplier that
will perform it on behalf of the focal
firm.

Outsourcing
Pros

Cons

Lower prices for consumers

Nurtures rivals

Lower costs for firms

Loss of internal jobs

Firms can specialize focus on core

competencies

Exploitation of
workers/environment

Types of outsourcing?

Types of Outsourcing
Offshoring outsourcing to an
international or foreign firm
On-shoring/in-shoring outsourcing
to a domestic firm
Captive sourcing setting up
subsidiaries abroad. Location is
foreign, but work is in-house (FDI).
Nike offshores 100% of production

Outsourcing - Nike
Employs 26,000 American workers
vs.
>+ 1 million contract workers
90% of which are in Asia
Nike accused of exploiting low-wage
workers
If production took place in the US the
cost per pair of shoes would increase by
$100

VRIO Framework

V value (IBM Hardware)

R rarity
I imitability (Barbie)
O organizational

Consider aspects of firm resources and

capabilities.
http://
scholar.harvard.edu/files/nithingeereddy/files/starbucks_case_analysis
.pdf

VRIO Framework - Nike

Value Does Nikes resources and capabilities
enable the firm to respond to environmental
threats or opportunities?
Rarity Are Nikes resources currently controlled
by only a small number of competing firms?
Imitability Do firms without a resource face a
cost disadvantage in obtaining or developing
Nikes resources?
Organization Are Nikes other policies and
procedures organized to support the exploitation
of its valuable, rare, and costly-to-imitate
resources?

Nike v. Adidas
Given the VRIO framework, why does
Nike outperform Adidas?

In-class Assignment #4
Choose a pair of rivals (not Nike and
Adidas) and complete a VRIO
analysis of the company you think
has a competitive advantage over
the other. In your analysis, consider
some of the questions we used with
the Nike example.
Complete your analysis in class, with
your group members (for the group

For Next Class

Read Chapter 5
Quiz #4 (over Chapter 4) Due June 10th
- In-class Assignment #4 Due TODAY before
you leave class.
- Group Discussion #3 (Available June 8th to
June 14th)